EX  LIBRIS 

WILLYS  A.  MYERS 

American  Vice-Consul 


Magic 


Arthur  Leroy 

Author  of 

"FUTURISTIC  FANTASIES" 
"AT  YOUR  FINGERTIPS" 

Editor 
"PAK-(y-MAGIC" 


INTRODUCTION 


It  seems  like  a  long  time  since  those  happy  years  when  I  served 
in  the  capacity  of  editor  of  MAHATMA.  Those  were  the  brilliant  days 
of  Herrmann,  Kellar,  DeKolta,  Fox,  Robinson  (Chung'  IJng  Soo),  and 
a  h'ost  of  remarkable  performers.  Alas,  they  have  all  gone  to  their 
final  rewards,  and  the  years  which  have  rolled  on  since  their  passing- 
have  made  many  extraordinary  chang'es  in  our  beloved  art.  Changes, 
which,  if  those  old  masters  were  alive  today,  they  would  greet  with 
astonishment. 

Having  watched  each  of  these  changes  take  place,  personally, 
I  now  see  before  me  a  radically  different  school  of  magic.  I  see  a 
school  of  more  convincing',  more  persuasive,  more  entertaining  demon- 
strations of  mystery. 

For  years,  I've  toeen  asked  to  write  introductions  for  many  books. 
Each  time  I  refused,  feeling  that  an  introduction  written  by  me  would 
smack  just  a  bit  of  cynicism,  but  when  Arthur  Leroy  asked  for  an 
introduction  to  the  manuscript  which  he  presented  to  me  for  inspec- 
tit«i,  I  felt  that  here  at  last  was  a  new,  fresh,  vital  typo  of  presenta- 
tion, which  it  would  be  a  worthwhile  task  to  sponsor. 

My  reading  of  this  work  has  given  me  a  feeling  of  having  attained 
a  fresh  lease  on  magical  things.  It  is  my  sincere  hope  that  it  will 
do  the  same  for  you. 

Sincerely, 

FRANK   DUCROT. 


2082970 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Author's    Auditing 5 

Bill    Breaking- 6 

Coin    Capers 7 

Deck    Development 7 

Eggs    Eliminated 8 

Fantastic   Finale 10 

Great  Guns 10 

Hollywood's    Heroes 11 

India    Ink 12 

Jump    Joyously 13 

Kinda    Keen 13 

Laughing-   T-egerdemain    14 

My !    My  ! 16 

Novel    Needles 17 

Old    Order 18 

Prohibition  ?   Please !    18 

Queer  Queeries : 20 

Rather   Ridiculous 21 

Silken    Spell 22 

Tittle  Tattle 23 

Unusual    Universe 24 

Vari'ous   Vagaries 24 

Wandering-   Water 25 

Xylophone    X-Ray 26 

Yogi   Yama 26 

Zero    Zeal . .  28 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


This  book  is  respectfully  dedicated  to  these  honorable  master 
magicians — all  of  whom  have  lingered  a  while  in  the  Martinka  land- 
mark, where  this  humble  effort  was  born  and  brought  to  fruition. 
Confreres,  here  and  beyond,  we  salute  you. 


A — ANDRESS,  CHARLES 
AHBOTT,  PERCY 

B— 3ALABREGA 

BURGESS,  CLINTON 
BAILEY,  S.  WILLSON 
BAKER,   AL. 

C— CANNON  (Henry  Hatton) 
CARTER,  CHARLES 
CHASE,  C.  MILTON 
CARDINI 

D — DEKOLTA,  BAUTIER 
DIXEY,  HENRY  E. 
DOWNS,  T.  NELSON 
DEVANT,  DAVID 
DE  BIERE,  ARNOLD 

E — ELIOTT,  "Doc"  WILLIAM 
ELROY,  ROBERT  HENRI 
EVANS,  HENRY  RIDGELY 

P — Fox,  IMRO 

FISCHER  OTTOKAR 
FLOYD,  WALTER  E. 
FOWLER,  Gus 

G — GOLDIN,  HORACE 
GOLDSTON,  WILL 
GERMAIN,  KARL 

H— HOUDINI,  HARRY 

HERRMANN,   ALEXANDER 
HERRMANN,  ADELAIDE 
HBRRMANN,  LEON 
HUGARD,  JEAN 
HORNMANN,  OTTO 

I — IRVING,  JEAN 
IVES,  BARNEY 

J — JANSEN  (Dante) 
JOSEFFY 

K— KELLAR,  HARRY 
KEATING,  FKED 


L — LEROY,  SERVAIS 
LAFAYETTE 
LEIPSIG,  NATE 
LAURANT,  EUGENE 

M — MARO 

MULHOLLAND,   JOHN 
MALINI,  MAX 

N— NICOLA,  WILL 
NIXON,  "Doc" 

O—  OKITO 

OVETTE,  Jos. 

P— POWELL,  DEAN  FRED.  E. 
POWERS,  CLYDE  W. 

Q — QUOD,  Jos. 

Dr.   "Q"    (Alexander) 

R— ROBINSON   (Chung  Ling  Soo) 
RAE,  OSWALD 
RANSOM,  ELMER  P. 

ROTERBERG,    A. 

S— SELBIT,  P.  T. 
SALBINI,  LALLAH 

T — THURSTON,  HOWARD 
TRAVERS,  ROLAND 
TALMA,  "Queen  of  Coins" 
THAYER,  FLOYD 

U— USHER,  HARRY 
V— VALADON,  PAUL 

W — WARING,  ANDREW  G. 
WILSON,  Dr.  A.  M. 
WILLMANN,  CARL 

X— Dr.  "X" 

Y— YETTMAH,  CYRIL 
YOST,  THOMAS 

Z — ZANCIG,  JULIUS 
ZISKA 
ZAMLOCH,  CARL 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


ANOTHER 

BOOK 

CONJURORS 

DESIRE 

EFFECTING 

FAR 

GREATER 

HEIGHTS 

IN 

JEALOUSLY 

KNITTED 

LEGERDEMAIN 

MIRACULOUSLY 

NOVEL 

ODDITY 

PARAPHRASING 

QUITE 

RARE 

SORCERY 

THIS 

UNIQUE 

VOLUME 

WILL 

XPOSE 

YOGI 

ZENITH 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


A  DIGNIFIED  INTRODUCTION  WOULD  BE 
AUTHOR'S  AUDITING 

"Laugh  and  the  world  laughs  with  you;  snore  and  you  sleep 
alone".  I  admit  there  is  not  much  to  laugh  at  in  our  noble  art  lately 
but  perhaps  it's  because  we've  been  sleeping  alone.  Things  in  magic 
haven't  been  exactly  encouraging  'of  late,  the  market  has  become 
over-crowded  with  books  and  tricks  of  little  value,  expose  has  been 
bringing  a  new  group  of  so-called  magicians  into  our  ranks,  and  all 
in  all  the  public's  interest  seems  to  have  waned.  Perhaps  the  lack  of 
interest  may  be  due  to  the  general  knowledge  of  magic,  and  its  allied 
arts  that  some  of  our  members  have  given  to  the  public.  But  here 
I  am  wailing  when  I  warned  you  to  laugh,  and  not  sleep  alone. 

Magic  has  slept,  and  slept  deeply.  Little  of  value  has  been  in- 
troduced in  the  past  generation.  It's  not  so  much  that  our  tricks 
haven't  advanced,  but  that  our  means  of  approach  remain  the  same 
as  they  were  during  the  days  of  Fox,  Kellar,  and  the  old  masters. 
We've  slept  alone,  because  other  means  of  entertaining  have  gone  well 
forward.  Stage  settings  have  become  marvelously  realistic.  Lighting 
effects  work  miracles  on  the  American  stage.  Methods  of  staging 
have  become  brilliant. 

But  has  magic  borrowed  from  any  of  these?  Not  by  a  long  shot. 
Tradition  still  remains  the  guiding  factor  in  our  midst.  The  black 
cyclorama  stage  setting  is  still  the  magician's  chief  expression  of 
beauty,  and  they  still  want  to  borrow  a  "gold  gentleman's  watch." 

Oh  brothers  save  us  from  it.  Let's  get  up  to  date.  Let's  be 
sophisticated.  Let  us  present  our  art  as  an  art,  and  add  the  little 
things  to  it  that  will  lend  it  glamour  and  brilliance.  True  the  bid 
effects  are  the  best,  but  can't  we  restage  them  to  meet  with  the 
thoughts  of  the  average  spectator.  Tret's  mystify  them,  but  above 
all  let  us  amuse  them. 

It's  a  hard  life  at  best.  Let's  make  it  brighter  by  giving  the 
folks  a  good  laugh,  and  if  the  laughter  is  born  of  bewilderment,  then, 
you  are  a  magician.  Why  should  magic  sleep  alone?  Add  to  it  all 
the  things  this  new  age  has  to  offer.  If  we  can  modernize  we  are 
saved;  if  we  can't,  our  beloved  art  will  soon  become  a  toy  for  every 
child  to  play  with.  It's  almost  that  now. 

And  incidentally  about  that  sleeping  alone  business,  never  sleep 
thirteen  in  a  bed.  It's  awfully  unlucky. 

But  Who  in  Hell's  Dignified  ?     This  would  be  more  like  this 
Author's  Auditing 

Time  and  again  I  have  been  asked  how  I  ever  wrote  a  book  like 
Futuristic  Fantasies.  They  don't  use  those  exact  words,  however. 
They  usually  ask  where  I  got  the  nerve.  I  always  answer  with  that 
classic  phrase  frt>m  Shakespeare,  "Aw  Nerts." 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


However,  my  wife  Fanny,  (the  nation's  seat),  said  one  day,  "Bum, 
(that's  a  pet  name  she  always  uses)  why  don't  you  write  another 
bock?  You  haven't  been  shot  for  the  last  one  yet,  and  I  ctuld  use 
the  insurance  money." 

So  to  please  my  Fanny  (and  yours  too,  I  h'cpe),  I'm  presenting 
another  er — er — book.  It  really  isn't  bad,  and  I  think  this  introduction 
is  so  unlike  the  usual  braggadocto  that  opens  most  magical  books, 
that  is  should  meet  with  instant  acclaim. 

I  took  my  last  book  to  a  printer,  and  we  got  to  discussing-  the 
weather,  and  thing's  and  stuff,  until  finally  he  started  to  tell  me  about 
his  s^n. 

"What  is  your  son?"  I  asked. 
"Oh?  He's  a  Presbyterian." 

"No,  no,  that's  his  belief.  What  does  he  do?  For  instance,  I'm 
a  magician." 

To   which   the   printer   retorted: 
"Huh — that's    your    belief." 

This  should  convince  y*cu  of  the  great  talent  which  is  mine.  Now, 
now,  boys,  none  of  those  funny  noises.  I  didn't  know  you  boys  cheered 
with  that  exhaling  noise. 


What  with  the  depression  who  can  perfoim 
BILL  BREAKING? 

I  must  give  credit  for  the  origin  of  this  idea  to  my  pal  Frank 
Ducrot.  Frank  first  thought  of  the  gag,  but  never  worked  out  the 
method.  I  think  you'll  find  it  a  handy  gag  for  a  gathering. 

Before  you  go  to  an  affair  teach  a  friend  'of  yours  the  old  gag 
of  breaking  a  pencil  with  a  dollar  bill.  Instruct  him  that  while  you 
are  out  of  the  room  he  should  perform  the  effect. 

Later  on  in  the  evening  when  you  are  asked  to  perform,  you 
give  a  spectator  a  pencil  to  htold,  and  holding  a  dollar  bill  you  raise 
it  as  if  to  strike  the  pencil. 

You  turn  to  a  spectator  and  ask  him  if  he  knows  what  you  are 
going  to  do.  He  answers  that  you  are  going  to  break  the  pencil. 

Down  conies  the  bill,  and  four  quarters  fall  to  the  floor,  as  the 
bill  vanishes. 

You  turn  to  the  spectator,  "No,  you  were  wrong — I  was  going  to 
break  the  bill." 

The  method  is  simple  yet  effective.  As  in  the  usual  pencil 
break  the  bill  is  folded  into  quarters.  An  elastic  band  attached  to  it, 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


and  thence  up  the  sleeve,  is  responsible  for  the  vanish;  the  quarters 
are  palmed  in  the  hand  holding-  the  bill,  and  the  act  of  opening  the 
hand  releases  both  bill  and  coins. 

The  misdirection  is  perfect  as  the  spectators  imagine  that  an 
utterly  different  thing-  is  going-  to  take  place,  and  haven't  a  chance  to 
think  until  it's  all  over,  and  then  it's  too  late.  The  surprise  and 
laugh  come  at  the  same  instant,  and  make  the  getaway  perfect. 


"Well  I'll  be  switched!"  said  the  dime,  as  the  magician 
pounced  upon  it. 

COIN  CAPERS 

Time  and  again  you  have  wished  for  an  unsuspicious  switch  for 
a  coin  in  which  the  performer  makes  rio*  phoney  movements.  Here's 
a  switch  in  which  you  only  use  one  hand. 

A  coin  is  borrowed.  It  is  placed  on  the  table,  the  performer 
apparently  picks  it  up  in  his  right  hand,  and  gives  it  to  another 
spectator  to  hold.  His  hands  may  'be  shown  absolutely  empty,  yet  in 
that  instant  the  coin  was  switched  for  a  duplicate,  and  the  original 
may  be  retrieved  in  a  second  to  be  used  in  any  fashion  you  see  fit. 

A  duplicate  coin  is  palmed  in  the  right  hand.  The  borrowed  coin 
has  been  placed  on  a  table  by  the  spectator.  The  performer  reaches 
for  the  coin  with  his  right  hand,  as  he  does  this  his  sleeve  just  reaches 
the  edge  of  the  table.  A  slight  kick  on  the  edge  of  the  coin  with  his 
fingers  sends  the  coin  across  the  table,  under  cover  of  his  arm,  and 
directly  up  his  sleeve.  Immediately  the  performer  turns  his  hand 
palm  up,  and  there  is  the  coin,  really  the  duplicate  facing  the  audi- 
ence, and  the  hand  is  empty  beyond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt. 

The  whole  move  takes  a  fraction  of  a  second  to  perform,  and 
is  so  perfectly  natural  that  there  is  ntot  a  person  in  a  million  who 
will  suspect  you  of  conjuring. 

Of  course  lowering  the  arm  brings  the  coin  back  into  your  hand 
to  l>e  used  if  necessary.  I  don't  usually  approve  of  sleeve  wtork,  as 
most  people  suspect  it.  But  here's  a  time  when  it  is  used,  and  there 
is  no  reason  for  suspicion. 


There's  a  string  to  this  offer 
DECK  DEVELOPMENT 

It  has  long  been  the  dream  of  every  card  manipulator  tt>  show 
his  hands  unmistakably  empty  before  starting  his  routine,  and  then 
without  any"  moves  or  passes  produce  his  entire  deck  with  which  to 
do  his  routine  V>f  catches,  flourishes  and  palms.  Here's  quite  a 
decent  method. 


8 MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

Take  a  needle  and  a  length  of  black  thread.  Through  one  end  of 
the  deck  push  the  needle  until  the  cards  have  been  threaded.  You'll 
find,  it  easier  if  you  thread  a  few  cards  at  a  time.  After  the  deck  is 
threaded  tie  "one  end  of  the  thread  around  the  punctured  corner  of 
the  pack.  This  is  to  keep  the  pack  from  shifting'  back  and  forth  along 
the  thread. 

The  cards  are  secreted  under  the  left  hand  upper  shoulder  por- 
tion of  the  vest.  The  loose  end  of  the  thread  is  tied  to  one  'of  the  vest 
buttons. 

The  hands  are  shown  empty,  but  the  slack  of  the  thread  is  over 
the  right  thumb  at  the  crotch.  The  showing  v>f  the  hands  is  done 
slowly  and  deliberately.  Now  the  right  and  left  hands  are  held  as 
far  apart  as  the  length  of  a  deck.  Suddenly  the  performer  lunges  for- 
ward and  there  is  his  fanned  deck. 

The  bringing  of  the  hands  forward  takes  in  the  slack  of  the 
thread,  and  brings  the  pack  into  the  right  hand  in  a  flash.  At  the 
same  time  the  left  hand  fans  the  deck.  The  thread  is  broken  where 
it  encircles  the  end  of  the  deck,  and  you  are  ready  to  carry  on  with 
whatever  you  care  to.  The  left  shoulder  is  the  best  place  to  secrete 
the  cards  as  it  is  the  one  place  where  the  vest  is  not  tight  enough  to 
offer  resistance  to  the  swift  flight  of  the  cards.  Also  the  coat  makes 
an  effective  covering  for,  the  load.  Here's  a  sweet  opening  for  a 
card  act.  Try  it  and  thank  me  later.  On  second  thought  it's  your 
dollar,  G"od  knows  you  deserve  something  you  can  use  for  a  change. 


A  helpful  hint  to  bad  actors. 
EGGS  ELIMINATED 

Patter — The  other  day  I  happened  to  be  making  a  trip  on  a  train. 
When  time  for  breakfast  arrived  I  sauntered  into  the  diner,  and  sat 
at  a  table  opposite  another  passenger. 

The  waiter  came  in  and  requested  the  other  party's  order. 

",Well,"  said  the  gentleman,  "I'll  have  some  orange  juice,  two 
soft  boiled  eggs,  some  toast,  and  a  pot  of  coffee." 

The  waiter  turned,   "Well,  boss,  what's  you  gonna  haf?" 

"I'll  have  the  same  as  that  gentleman,  only  eliminate  my  eggs." 

"Yas  suh,  right  away,  suh." 

A  few  minutes  later  the  darkey  returned  1'ooking  very  puzzled. 
"I'm  sorry  boss",  he  said,  "but  I  done  fogot  you  ordah." 

"Do  you  remember  what  the  gentleman  opposite  ordered?"  I 
asked. 

"Yas  suh,  I  suah  do." 

"Well  I'll  take  the  same,  tonly  I  want  the  eggs  eliminated." 

"That's  it,  boss,  you  want  you  eggs  eliminated." 

Well  he  brought  the  other  fellow's  order,  and  I  waited  for  ten 
minutes  but  still  mine  didn't  appear.  Finally  in  desperation  I  called 
the  waiter  over. 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


"Say,  boy,  where' s  my  order?" 

"I'm  sorry  to  keep  you  waiting  suh,"  lie  replied,  "but  the  cook, 
he  can't  find  the  eliminator." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  I  laughed,  "when  I  say  eliminated  I  don't  mean 
cooked  in  any  particular  way.  Where's  your  grammar?" 

"Oh!  she's  dead,  suh." 

"Ixiok  I'll  show  you  what  I  mean.  Bring  me  some  orange  juice 
and  an  orange." 

"Alright  watch;  I'll  b'orrow  this  gentleman's  glass,  and  pour 
the  juice  from  my  glass  into  his."  (Performer  pours  orange  juice 
from  one  glass  to  another  to  prove  glass  contains  nothing  but  juice.) 
"N'ow  I'll  place  this  orange  on  top  of  the  glass.  If  I  were  to  take  it 
off  glass,  (suit  action  to  words),  the  orange  would  be  eliminated." 

"Yas  suh." 

"Now  I'll  borrow  one  of  this  gentleman's  eggs  and  place  it  into 
this  paper  bag,  (actions  to  words  all  through  the  effect  now.)  The 
bag  we  blow  up  just  as  a  school  boy  does,  but  when  I  burst  the  bag 
with  my  fist,  the  bag  is  empty  and  the  egg  has  been  eliminated." 
(Toss  broken  bag  to  audience.) 

The  waiter's  eyes  popped  as  he  asked,  "but  boss  where  did  the 
egg  exit  to?" 

"Why,  didn't  you  see  it  g'o?"  I  asked,  "here  it  is  in  my  orange 
juice."  (Performer  pours  juice  into  the  other  glass  and  there  is  the 
missing  egg.) 

The  darkey's  face  lit  up  in  a  broad  smile,  "You  know  boss,  it 
was  that  orange  juice  that  threw  me  off.  Now  I  know  what  you  mean. 
You  want  the  egg  in  lemonade." 

Here's  a  honey  of  an  effect,  with  plenty  of  laughs  and  a  method 
subtle  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  discerning  performer.  First  we'll 
look  into  the  vanish.  The  egg  used  is  not  real,  but  is  only  the  inner 
skin,  that  is  used  in  the  Japanese  effect  wherein  the  piece  of  tissue  is 
bounced  on  a  fan  until  it  becomes  an  egg.  As  you  kn'ow,  this  is  made 
by  soaking  an  egg  in  vinegar  for  a  day,  blowing  it  after,  and  breaking 
the  shell  away  IVcm  the  inner  skin.  (Keep  this  in  alcohol  to  keep  it 
from  drying  up.) 

In  putting  this  in  the  bag  it  is  kept  up  in  the  squeezed  up  neck 
of  the  bag  which  is  formed  in  order  to  brow  it  up.  In  the  act  of  blow- 
ing up  the  bag,  the  performer  inhales,  which  carries  the  egg  skin  into 
his  mouth  where  it  immediately  collapses,  to  the  size  of  a  crushed 
cigarette  paper.  The  bag  is  burst,  and  that  accounts  for  the  vanish. 

The  reproduction  is  simple.  The  base  of  the  orange  used  has  been 
cut  off,  and  the  orange  hollowed  out.  Into  it  has  been  inserted  an 
egg.  This  should  fit  loosely.  When  the  orange  is  placed  over  the  juice 
the  fingers  release  the  egg,  which  falls  into  the  glass.  The  fingers  t>f 
the  hand  not  engaged  hide  the  space  between  the  orange  and  the  sur- 
face of  the  fluid  as  the  egg  makes  its  passage  into  the  glass. 

The  juice  has  enough  body  to  hide  the  egg  until  the  moment  of 
revealment.  In  order  to  keep  the  egg  from  talking  it  is  a  g'ood  idea 


10  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


to  have  a  piece  of  sliced  orange  on  the  bottom  of  the  glass.  This  acts 
as  a  cushion,  and  as  the  glass  before  it  is  filled  is  supposed  t'o  have 
contained  orange  juice  the  slice  is  accounted  for. 

If  this  doesn't  bring1  in  the  laughs,  and  beside  that  mystify  them, 
I'm  all  wrong  as  to  what  the  public  wants. 


Delirium  Tremens  could  be  used  too— 
FANTASTIC  FINALE 

Here's  a  swell  finale  for  the  ever  popular  color  change  through 
the  hand.  After  the  usual  change,  the  performer  pushes  the  "dyed" 
silk  into  his  fist  t-nce  more.  When  the  fist  is  opened,  a  change  has 
ta'ken  place  and  the  silk  is  now  a  large  green  snake. 

All  you  need  is  a  spring  snake,  one  that's  used  in  the  popular 
"Snake  Jam  Jar"  joke.  This  can  be  bought  at  any  novelty  store  for 
twenty-five  cents.  The  snake  is  contracted  and  a  rubber  Imnd  en- 
circles it  to  keep  it  from  expanding.  The  end  of  the  snake  has  the 
cloth  packed  down  into  the  spring.  All  you  need  do  is  insert  your 
finger,  and  the  well  is  made.  The  snake  is  picked  up  from  the 
table  under  cover  of  the  hanky.  As  the  hanky  is  pushed  in,  it  goes 
into  the  well  at  the  end  of  snake,  where  it  remains  concealed.  All 
you  now  need  do,  is  release  the  rubber  band  and  your  change  is 
complete. 


A  shot  rings  out  in  the  stilly  night  in — 
GREAT  GUNS 

Here's  an  illusion  you,  can  build  entirely  for  less  than  a  buck.  It 
can  be  worked  in  double  parlors,  speakeasies,  theatres,  or  even  in  the 
face  of  impending  creditors. 

A  length  of  wash  tape  is  exhibited,  and  a  spectator  initials  it  to 
prove  that  substitution  is  impossible.  The  tape  is  rolled  up  and 
inserted  into  the  muzzle  of  a  pistol.  The  performer  fires  at  his 
assistant,  and  the  tape  is  seen  to  penetrate  his  body,  a  portion  of  it 
hanging  from  his  back  and  alxlomen.  The  tape  is  pulled  through 
the  bt>dy,  and  the  mark  on  it  is  verified  by  the  spectator  who 
marked  it. 

Yup!  you're  right.  Shooting  through  a  woman,  and  it  only  costs 
a  buck,  or  less,  complete. 

All  you  need  is  a  single  chamber  blank  gun,  loaded  with  a 
blank,  and  two  pieces  of  tape. 

One  piece  of  tape  is  run  artound  the  left  side  of  the  victim's 
body,  and  the  ends  are  pleated  in  back  and  front.  A  piece  of  black 
thread  is  attached  to  both  ends  of  the  tape.  One  thread  is  attached 
to  a  chair  or  any  piece  of  stage  furniture,  the  other  is  attached  to 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  11 


the  gun.  A  slit  in  the  rear  of  the  assistant's  coat  is  necessary.  When 
the  magician  fires  he  yanks  thread  with  a  downward  motion  of  the 
gun.  This  pulls  the  tape  out  at  the  front.  At  the  same  time  the 
assistant  steps  forward  and  this  yanks  out  tape  at  the  rear.  The 
tape  is  pulled  apparently  through  the  body,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
threads  are  broken.  Then  the  tape  is  carried  down  for  the  mark  on  it 
to  be  identified. 

The  method  of  transposing  the  mark  is  simple.  The  tape  that 
is  brtmght  into  the  audience  has  an  extra  inch  attached  to  it  with 
wax.  It  is  this  piece  that  is  marked.  In  the  act  of  rolling  up  the 
tape  this  extra  piece  is  disengaged  and  dropped  into  the  pocket 
until  needed.  When  the  "gimmicked"  tape  is  pulled  through  the 
assistant  the  extra  piece  is  waxed  on,  and  then  it  is  taken  out  for 
inspection.  Of  course  the  duplicate  piece  is  never  loaded  into  the 
gun,  merely  palmed  off. 

If  >Jou  like,  the  rear  thread  can  run  off  stage,  and  the  assistant 
can  carry  the  gun  into  you.  In  this  fashion  the  assistant  can  walk 
onto  the  stage,  and  do  away  with  being  in  one  spot  when  the  curtains 
rise.  If  this  method  is  used  great  care  must  be  taken,  and  the  exact 
spot  marked  on  the  stage  where  the  assistant  is  to  stand  so  that  the 
tape  doesn't  c'ome  into  view  prematurely.  1  know  if  you  try  this 
one  you'll  like  it. 

Well  I'll  have  to  stop  writing'  now,  because  my  wife  Fanny,  has 
a  pain,  and  I  can  never  work  when  there's  a  pain  in  my  Fanny.  I 
hope  you  don't  feel  the  same  way  about  this  trick. 

By  the  way,  don't  argue  with  your  assistant  as  it  is  only  through 
him  that  you  can  do  this  trick. 


Would  that  magicians  earned  the  salaries  of 
HOLLYWOOD'S  HEROES 

Here's  a  novel  stunt  that  has  "stopped"  a  good  many  real  per- 
formers. I  don't  know  why,  probably  because  it  is  so  nervy  and 
straightforward. 

A  card  is  selected  from  a  pack,  (some  fun,  eh  kid?)  It  is  re- 
placed, and  the  deck  is  shuffled  in  the  usual  way.  The  spectator 
now  is  asked  to  name  his  favorite  movie  star.  Performer  has  spectator 
spell  out  the  name,  one  letter  at  a  time  and  one  card  for  each  letter. 
At  the  finish  the  selected  card  turns  up.  There  are  no  false  tor 
suspicious  moves  at  any  time.  WThen  the  card  is  returned  have  it 
replaced  under  twelve  cards,  then  false  shuffle.  You'll  find  that 
almost  every  famous  star  has  twelve  or  thirteen  letters  in  his  or  her 
name.  When  the  name  is  given  you  figure  out  the  number  of  letters 
in  it,  and  turn  up  either  the  last  card  or  the  one  following,  depending 
on  the  number  of  letters. 

If  you  should  be  given  a  name  with  less  than  the  required  amount 
of  letters,  you  demonstrate  how  you  are  going  to  spell  by  counting 


12  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

off  the  excess  cards  from,  the  top.  If  you  need  more  letters  demon- 
strate by  spelling  from  the  bottom  and  adding  the  required  number 
to  the  top. 

Here's  a  list  of  the  stars  you  usually  get,  and  I  think  you'll  find 
most  of  them  perfect  fits. 


The  Great  Garbo  Harold  Lloyd 

Doug  Fairbanks  Buster  Keaton 

Gloria  Swanson  Connie  Bennett 

Wallace  Beery  Clark  Gable  (add  Mr.) 

Warren  William  George  Arliss 

John  Barrym'ore  Mary  Pickford 

Marie  Dressier  Joan  Crawford 

Most  people  asked  to  think  'of  a  star  hurriedly  will  pick  one  of  this 
list.  If  they  shouldn't  you  have  recourse  to  the  spell  up  or  down 
demonstrating  method.  It  never  makes  them  suspici'ous  as  it  is  natural 
to  let  them  know  what  you  want  done. 

Of  course  for  the  actual  spelling  you  put  the  cards  into  the 
spectator's  own  hands,  and  let  him  spell  out  the  name.  Try  it,  I  think 
you'll  like  it. 


You'll  have  a  blot  on  your  "rep"  if  you  use 
INDIA  INK 

Here's  a  happy  departure  from  the  usual  spirit  writing-  etuff. 
Patter — [Let  me  discourse  on  two  utterly  dissimilar  sublets;  an 
absent  minded  professor  and  some  ink  from  India.  Whenever  the 
professor  went  to  buy  anything  for  his  wife  he'd  put  a  narrow  strip 
of  paper  around  his  thumb  so  that  he  wouldn't  forget  his  errand.  This 
he  held  in  place  by  gumming  the  end  with  a  postage  stamp.  (Per- 
former is  doing  the  above  while  assailing  the  ears  'of  the  auditors  with 
this  junk).  Now  in  order  that  he'd  know  it  was  an  errand  for  his 
wife  he  was  undertaking  he  had  her  initial  the  strip  around  his  thumb. 
Madam  will  you  be  the  wife,  and  initial  the  strip  we've  all  examined? 
(Strip  is  marked) . 

The  only  fault  with  this  system  of  memory  stimulation  was  that 
the  professor  sometimes  forgot  what  the  strip  stood  for,  and  what 
he  was  supposed  to  buy,  but  a  friend  of  his  had  given  him  some  mys- 
terious ink  from  India.  All  he'd  need  do  was  place  the  point  of  his 
fountain  pen  against  the  strip  and  it  would  write  upon  it  the  name  of 
the  article  he  was  supposed  to  purchase.  Now  in  my  pen  I  have  some 
of  this  ink.  Suppose  we  represent  the  item  by  a  playing  card.  Will 
you  take  one?  What's  the  name  of  it?  Now  madam  I  place  the  pen 
against  the  strip  for  a  split  second,  and  even  though  it  is  the  same 
you  initialed,  on  it  is  the  name  of  the  selected  card." 

Method — A  narrow  strip  of  paper  about  a  half  an  inch  wide  is 
first  wrapped  tightly  around  the  first  joint  of  the  left  thumb,  and 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  13 


sealed  in  place  with  a  postage  stamp.  On  this  is  written  the  name  of 
a  card  you  intend  to  force.  Over  this  is  placed  a  thumb  tip.  In  demon- 
strating the  effect  a  duplicate  piece  <of  paper  is  proved  blank.  It  is 
then  wound  around  thumb,  really  tip,  and  is  sealed  with  a  postage 
stamp.  Now  the  performer  reaches  for  his  pen  to  have  the  strip 
initialed.  As  he  does  this  the  tip  is  shot  off  the  thumb  into  the  pocket. 
When  the  hand  is  viewed  again  everything  looks  O.K.,  as  the  prepared 
piece  is  very  much  in  evidence.  When  the  spectator  initials  it  is 
naturally  this  prepared  strip.  For  a  swell  card  force  to  use  here  see 
the  next  stunt. 

In  setting  up  for  the  stunt,  the  writing  on  the  slip  is  of  course 
inwards  when  the  paper  is  w"ound  around  the  thumb. 

You   mightn't  like   this,    but   I   think   it's   thumb   tip.      (My   lord, 
I^oroy's  a  pansy,  he  lisps.) 


Here's  a  radically  new  force,  brothers,  so 
JUMP  JOYOUSLY 

Turn  back  a  page  or  two;  read  over  "Hollywood's  Heroes",  and 
then  reconsider  its  possibilities. 

Yes,  you're  right,  it  is  a  perfect  force  aside  from  its  other  possibil- 
ities. All  you  need  do  is  have  your  forced  card  thirteenth  from  the 
top.  Ask  for  the  name  of  a  star,  fig-ure  out  whether  you  need  more 
or  less,  instruct  the  spectator,  have  him  spell  out  the  name  himself, 
look  at  either  the  last  letter,  or  the  next  card  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
then  reshuffle  the  deck.  You  are  then  in  a  position  to  do  any  stunt 
that  you  do  using  the  time  force. 

I  think  this  is  the  only  force  known  using  unprepared  cards, 
wherein  the  spectator  works  it  upon  himself. 


It's  not  a  razor  blade  "ad"  but  still  it's 
KINDA  KEEN 

Effect — A  boy  is  invited  to  assist  the  performer.  Magician  has  a 
card  selected,  and  it  is  placed  into  a  small  paper  bag,  which  is  given  the 
boy  to  hold.  Two  more  cards  are  chosen,  and  these  are  threaded  on  a 
piece  of  thread  which  is  pushed  through  them  with  a  needle.  The 
cards  are  covered  with  a  handkerchief,  and  the  ends  of  the  thread  are 
held  by  a  spectator.  The  selected  card  vanishes  from  the  bag  the  boy 
is  holding-  and  appears  threaded  between  the  two  other  cards.  The 
selected  card  now  vanishes  once  more,  and  after  a  little  by  play  is 
found  on  the  boy's  back. 

Method — When  the  card  is  selected  it  is  seen  by  the  performer, 
as  it  is  shown  around  for  all  to  see.  There  is  no  secret  made  of 
this  fact. 


14  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

In  your  pocket  you  have  the  cards  from  the  pocket  apparatus, 
(Racks),  and  you  immediately  palm  the  duplicate  of  selected  card. 
When  the  two  other  chosen  cards  are  returned  to  you,  you  slip  the 
palmed  duplicate  behind  them,  holding-  them  squared  so  that  it  can't 
be  noticed.  Then  you  place  the  front  card  on  the  rear  which  puts  your 
duplicate  between  the  two.  All  three  are  threaded  as  one,  and  a  'ker- 
chief is  thrown  over  the  lot.  The  ends  of  the  thread  are  held,  and  you 
are  now  all  set  for  the  reproduction. 

Now  for  the  vanish.  You  use  a  small  paper  bag,  such  as  is  used 
for  small  quantities  of  candy.  When  you  receive  card  and  put  it  into 
the  bag,  you  slip  a  small  paper  clip  onto  it.  The  Type  of  Clip  that  is 
used  to  Hang-  Sh"ow  Cards.  (Dennison's)  These  come  with  a  pin  on 
their  rear. 

Card  is  placed  into  bag,  and  as  you  talk  to  the  boy  get  pin  to 
hook  onto  his  back.  This  accomplishes  two  thing's,  vanishes  card,  and 
gets  it  onto  the  boy's  'back.  You  hand  the  lad  the  bag  to  hold,  and  in 
due  time  show  the  card  vanished.  Then  you  disclose  it  between  the 
two  on  the  thread. 

The  cards  are  stripped  off  the  thread,  and  held  fanned  in  the 
right  hand;  the  selected  card  has  been  moved  to  the  rear  of  the  fan. 
As  you  close  the  fan  the  right  hand  backpalms  the  rear  card.  The 
cards  are  transferred  to  the  left  hand,  and  the  right  hand  reaches  for 
the  wand,  leaving  the  backpalmed  card  ton  the  table.  All  that  remains 
is  to  show  that  the  selected  card  has  vanished,  and  is  now  on  the 
boy's  back. 

This  is  a  marvelously  effective  sequence,  and  it  doesn't  depend 
on  antiquated  ideas.  Give  it  a  trial.  As  a  matter  of  fact  I  gave  it 
a  trial,  and  the  audience  was  so  pleased  that  they  gave  me  a  trial, 
and  the  judge — but  who  cares  about  that? 


The  audience  should  reenforce  their  suspender  buttons  for 
LAUGHING  LEGERDEMAIN 

Here's  a  darned  funny  club  act,  with  a  new  means  of  approach 
that  is  bound  to  prove  a  laugh.  The  effects  are  far  from  new  but 
the  means  of  handling  them  are  decidedly  different.  Propping  is 
simple,  and  the  only  thing  that  is  likely  to  cost  you  money  is  the 
Vanishing  cage. 

The  stage  is  set  for  an  usual  magical  act.  Performer  enters 
wearing  street  clothes,  and  carrying  a  book.  He  looks  awfully  dis- 
concerted. 

"I'm  awfully  sorry,  folks,  but  the  next  act  was  to  be  Professor 
Glutz — Ophelia  Glutz  to  be  exact.  The  professor  arrived  with  his 
act,  but  unfortunately  some  of  the  boys  tried  to  make  him  happy 
with  a  little  laughing  soup.  Last  time  I  saw  him  he  was  having 
an  awful  battle  with  a  pink  elephant  who  was  wearing  white  socks. 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  15 


"I've  been  elected  to  do  his  .act,  and  believe  me,  I  don't  feel 
so  well.  1  have  here  the  book  that  tells  ht>w  to  do  the  tricks.  If 
1  should  make  any  mistakes— it' 11  be  tough  on  the  Society  of  American 
Magicians. 

"For  the  first  trick  let  me  show  you  a  trick  with  a  tumbler, 
(show  glass  and  lobk  at  book,  this  you  do  incessantly  for  effect), 
they  call  them  tum'blers  even  though  they  don't  do  any  acrobatic 
tricks.  That's  an  awful  gag,  no  wonder  they  got  the  professor 
drunk,  they  must  have  seen  his  act  before. 

"We  cover  this  glass  with,  a  ptocket  handkerchief,  so  you  won't 
see  through  the  trick.  My  God!  What  jokes?  Here's  a  magician's 
special,  a  red  silk  handkerchief.  All  I  need  do  is  say  Nerts,  and  the 
silk  goes."  (See  next  number — My!  My!)  "It  worked,  am  I  sur- 
prised? Now  in  the  glass  we  find  the  missing  silk.  (Glass  is  un- 
covered and  it  is  empty.  Performer  mugs  surprise,  and  looks  in 
book.)  Gee  I  had  the  trick  all  wrong.  (Cover  glass  again).  It's 
an  egg  I'm  supposed  to  use.  I  place  the  egg  in  this  bag,  (egg  bag) 
say  Nerts,  anu  we  see  the  egg  has  vanished,  and  is  now  in  the 
glass.  (Remove  'kerchief,  and  there  is  the  silk  that  vanished  in  the 
rirst  instance.) 

"Curses  this  is  all  wet.  Maybe  the  trick's  in  the  bag,  looks  in 
the  bag,  and  there  is  the  missing  egg.  Oh  we'll  cover  the  egg  with 
the  silk,  and  when  we  say  Nerts  the  egg  vanishes.  (Instead  the  silk 
vanishes,  and  the  egg  remains.)" 

Let  me  show  you  how  it's  done,  the  silk  gtoes  into  the  egg, 
it's  a  hollow  egg.  No  wonder  they  gave  the  professor  a  drink.  They 
should  have  used  poison.  Simple,  huh.  (performer  laughs,  when 
accidentally  he  drtops  the  egg  and  it  breaks,  proving  to  toe  a  real 
egg.  Performer  smiles  sheepishly  and  alibis  with.)  Maybe  you 
think  I've  been  drinking  too,  but  this  is  the  first  drop  I've  had  all 
evening. 

(You  can  see  for  yourself  that  this  is  just  an  effective  routine 
combining,  Kling  Klang,  and  the  egg  bag.  There  are  a  few  added 
suotleties,  but  hell,  brother  with  your  knowledge  I  needn't  waste  time. 
This  routine  uses  up  a  lot  of  paper). 

Performer  walks  over  to  table  and  picks  up  bird  cage  with  bird. 
(This  is  the  European  model  vanishing  cage,  that  remains  rigid 
until  you  attach  the  pull,  and  release  it.) 

Watch  this.  It'll  scare  the  hell  out  of  you.  One,  twt>,  three, 
Nerts.  Am  I  sorry?  (Cage  doesn't  vanish.)  Maybe  we'd  better  wait 
until  Glutz  sobers  up  lor  that  one.  (Replace  cage  on  table.) 

Now  I'm  supposed  to  follow  with  the  professor's  original  dance 
called  the  Glutz  Glide,  but  I've  a  rabbit  concealed  in  my  back,  and  if 
I  should  fall  it'd  be  just  too  bad.  So  instead  I'll  do  the  next  trick. 
Let's  see  what  the  book  says.  Oh  yeah !  It's  dedicated  to  Glutz's 
wife  and  it's  called,  "When  I'm  with  you  I'm  lonesome." 


1 6  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

My  hands  are  empty  but  when  I  reach  in  the  air  I'll  have  a  new 
fur  lined  bath  tub.  (A  pack  of  cards  appears  in  the  performer's 
hands — Deck  Development.)  I  don't  think  this  Glutz  fellow  knows 
what  it's  all  about.  Nothing-  seems  to  work.  Oh  well  I  might  just  as 
well  do  a  card  trick,  it's  on  the  house  anyway. 

(Will  some'one  select  a  card?  Did  you  get  the  four  of  clubs? 
Well  put  it  back,  it's  bad  luck,  it's  the  one  card  that  the  trick  won't 
work  with.  Take  another.  What,  the  four  of  clubs  again?  Curses. 
Well  in  order  to  make  the  trick  work  we'll  put  the  four  of  clubs 
aside.  Now  take  tone.  My  God  it's  the  four  of  clubs.  What  about 
the  one  we  put  aside.  It's  the  Joker.  How  I  hate  that  Glutz  fellow. 

(This  is  just  the  old  force  and  top  change  routine  that  is  very 
common.) 

Just  to  spite  Glutz  I'm  going  to  make  that  darned  cage  vanish. 
Will  he  be  sore?  It's  his  best  trick.  One,  two,  three — Nerts.  I'm 
afraid  I  don't  get  the  idea.  You  know  what's  wrong?  I  think  I  don't 
know  how  to  do  the  blooming  thing. 

(Performer  reaches  in  the  air,  catches  an  unlighted  cigarette . 
Lights  it,  makes  a  pass,  looks  at  the  audience  in  triumph.  Throws 
it  into  a  pail,  immediately  at  his  fingertips  another  one  appears. 
This  is  thrown  into  bowl,  and  still  another  appears.  Performer  looks 
astonished  at  each  new  appearance.)  This  is  continued  in  silence 
to  suit  yourself.  At  one  time  in  the  production  the  performer  looks 
at  the  audience  and  says,  "Now  that  I've  got  the  darned  thing 
started,  I  don't  know  how  to  stop  it."  At  the  windup  performer 
produces  a  cigar  which  he  walks  off  smoking.  See  "Futuristic  Fan- 
tasies" for  a  neat  "ciggie"  routine. 

After  the  applause  which  is  bound  t'o  follow  this  act  the  per- 
former reappears. 

"If  it's  alright  with  you  folks,  I'd  like  to  take  another  chance 
at  that  bird  cage.  One,  two,  three." 

The  cage  vanishes.  Here's  where  you  must  act.  At  first  the 
performer  smiles,  but  when  the  realization  of  what  has  happened 
hits  him,  he  gradually  grows  "groggy",  and  walks  off  the  stage  in 
a  daze. 

FINISH 

I  think  it's  funny.  I've  used  it,  and  the  audience  thought  it  was 
funny.  Try  it  for  yourself,  maybe  you,  too,  will  be  lucky  enough  to 
find  an  audience  that  might  think  it  funny.  All  kidding  aside,  it  has 
mystery  and  plenty  of  laughs.  Que  voulez-vous? 


Have  you  seen  the  new  levitation, 

"THE  RISE  OF  THE  GOLDBERGS"? 

MY!    MY! 

Here's    a    startlingly    rapid    silk    vanish:    hence    the    title.      The 
performer  merely  removes  a  silk  from  his  pants  pocket,  holds  it  ex- 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  17 


tended  in  his  left  hand,  says  go!   and  the  silk  obligingly  does  go.     It's 
so  simple  that  I'm  surprised  that  it's  never  been  used. 

All  you  need  is  a  thirteen  inch  silk  and  some  strong  black  thread. 
Attach  one  end  of  the  thread  to  the  silk.  The  other  end  is  run 
through  the  second  belt  hook  on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  body.  From 
this  the  thread  is  run  around  the  body  to  the  right  hand  side  where 
it  terminates  in  a  lo'op  for  the  finger.  The  loop  is  placed  over  a  vest 
button,  and  the  silk  is  tucked  into  the  left  pants  pocket  until  needed. 

In  presenting-  the  stunt  the  left  hand  brings  out  the  silk,  while 
the  right  hand  forces  the  loop  from  the  vest  button,  and  engages  it  on 
a  finger.  The  silk  is  held  hanging  from  the  left  hand,  threaded  end 
uppermost. 

For  the  vanish  the  hands  are  shot  forward  suddenly,  which 
causes  the  silk  to  vanish  and  hang  out  of  view  over  the'  belt  hook. 
The  coat  naturally  covers  all.  A  bit  of  trying  is  necessary  to  get 
the  thread  the  proper  length,  and  to  judge  how  much  pull  is  needed 
to  bring  silk  <over  the  belt  hook. 

Try  it,  and  you'll  quit  "vanishers." 


It's  a  miracle,  no  less. 
NOVEL  NEEDLES 

Here's  a  needle  threading  gag  that  is  convincing.  A  pair  of 
spectators  are  invited  to  assist.  They  examine  the  needles,  threads, 
and  are  permitted  to  inspect  the  performer's  mouth.  The  needles 
are  placed  in  the  mouth  along  with  the  thread.  They  are  swallowed. 
The  two  spectators  are  given  rubber  gl'oves  so  that  they  may  get  into 
the  performer's  mouth  and  thoroughly  inspect  it.  It  is  unmistakably 
empty.  Suddenly  the  performer  coughs  and  the  end  of  the  thread 
becomes  visible  between  his  teeth,  and  upon  the  thread's  being  develop- 
ed the  missing'  needles  are  found  threaded  upon  it.  Onoe  m'ore  the 
mouth  may  be  examined.  As  you  can  see  the  spectators  are  given 
every  opportunity  to  inspect. 

The  first  thing  we  must  think  of  is  the  get  away  of  the  original 
needles  and  thread.  A  double  sized  thumb  tip  is  used.  The  type 
that  is  used  in  the  "Goblin  Tube."  After  the  mouth  is  inspected  at 
the  start  the  tip  is  loaded  into  the  mouth  off  of  the  right  thumb. 
The  head  is  thrown  back,  and  the  needles  are  inserted  into  the  mouth, 
really  the  tip  points  downward.  The  thread  is  pushed  in,  and  in  the 
act  of  stuffing  it  in,  the  tip  is  carried  off  on  the  thumb. 

After  a  bit  of  fake  swallowing,  the  spectators  and  performer  don 
rubber  gloves  st>  that  the  mouth  may  be  inspected  thoroughly. 

Now  for  the  load.  On  the  index  finger  of  the  right  hand  glove 
of  the  performer,  a  pocket  has  been  made  by  attaching  an  extra 
piece  of  rubber  to  the  glove  with  rubber  cement.  This  is  left  open  on 
top,  and  is  of  course  on  the  inner  side  of  the  glove.  In  this  is  carried 


18  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

the  threaded  load  of  needles.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to  reach  into 
the  mouth  to  pull  out  the  end  of  the  thread,  and  shoot  the  load  out 
into  the  mouth. 

As  y*cu  can  see  this  is  the  only  needle  trick  in  existence  where 
you  can  safely  stand  any  amount  of  i-nspection  at  any  time.  Try  it, 
it's  a  sensation. 


A  tribute  to  "A  Man  Who  Laughs." 
OLD  ORDER 

In  advancing'  in  magic  we  have  forgotten  many  things.  How 
many  of  you  remember,  or  even  know  of  Henry  (Welsh)  Miller. 
Very  few  I  daresay  and  yet  in  .his  day  he  was  considered  tone  of  the 
greatest  manipulators  the  world  has  ever  known.  He  was  Tommy 
Downs'  only  sore  spot,  so  keen  was  their  rivalry. 

Today  "Welsh"  Miller  wanders  about  New  York  City  sadly  for- 
gotten by  audiences  who  once  cheered.  He  lives  only  by  the  help 
of  those  of  us  who  revel  in  the  days  when  magic  was  magic.  Most 
magicians  laugh  at  him  and  call  him  erratic.  Perhaps  he  is,  for  who 
knows  what  constitutes  sanity.  Yet  in  the  mind  t>f  that  old  master 
exists  effects  which  some  of  us  were  we  to  be  the  creators  of  them, 
would  never  stop  talking  about.  As  the  next  effect  in  this  volume, 
I  present  an  idea  of  Miller's.  The  idea  is  his,  the  method  of  working- 
mine.  Personally  I  consider  the  idea  far  superior  to  the  method. 

I  say  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  if  this  routine  is  work- 
ed, it  is  far  more  sensational,  than  the  present  day  cigarette  catching 
sensation. 

Imagine  from  his  bare  hands  the  performer  produces  glass  after 
glass  of  varied  liquors.  There  is  no  limit  fo  the  possibilities  of  the 
routine. 

Perhaps  in  our  mad  search  for  new  material  we  have  overlooked 
many  good  things.  Perhaps  we  have  laughed  when  we  should  have 
shed  a  tear.  And  so  I  dedicate  this  next  stunt  to  the  g'olden  days  of 
magic,  when  audiences  really  enjoyed  our  beloved  art.  "Welsh" 
Miller,  I  salute  you. 


The  present  generation's  greatest  manipulative  routine. 
PROHIBITION  ?     PLEASE ! 

Performer  enters.  On  the  side  stand  is  seen  a  bottle.  Across 
the  top  of  the  bottle  is  a  flat  piece  of  wotod  about  two  feet  long,  con- 
verting the  bottle  into  sort  of  a  T  stand.  Behind  the  bottle  a  black 
tray  is  standing  upright. 

Performer  shows  his  hand  empty,  reaches  into  the  air  and 
catches  a  glass  of  liquor.  This  is  placed  onto  the  T  stand  after  a 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  19 


bit  of  it  has  been  sampled.  Immediately  another  glass  of  different 
colored  fluid  is  produced,  and  placed  on  the  stand.  This  is  carried 
on  until  a  dozen  glasses1  or  so  are  produced.  Various  passes  with  the 
glasses  are  introduced,  and  each  glass  is,  sampled.  As  a  finish  the 
performer  rolls  a  sheet  of  paper  into  a  cornucopia,  and  shakes 
tlowers  onto  a  chair  in  front  of  the  table  holding  the  T  stand.  As 
he  does  this  the  performer  looks  at  the  audience  mournfully  with 
the  words,  "Flowers  To  The  Resurrected."  Suddenly  the  sheet  of 
paper  is  allowed  to  fall  open  and  from  behind  the  paper  the  per- 
former produces  a  large  stein  of  beer  with  which  he  makes  his 
exit. 

The  How — Naturally  since  the  bottle  must  hold  the  weight  of  the 
glasses  without  tipping  it  is  weighted  with  lead.  To  convert  the  bottle 
into  a  T  stand  all  you  need  do  is  get  a  flat  piece  of  wood  about  two 
feet  long'  and  two  inches  wide,  to  the  center  of  which  you  attach  a 
cork  which  fits  the  mouth  of  the  bottle  tightly.  .When  the  cork  is 
inserted  the  obvious  portions  of  your  stand  are  complete. 

Now  for  the  portions  which  are  not  quite  so  obvious.  As  you 
recall  a  tray  stands  upright  behind  the  bottle.  As  you  also  recall 
the  tray  is  black,  which  if  you  are  astute  will  lead  you  to  suspect 
black  art.  You  are  right,  for  attached  to  the  crossbar,  and  running 
down  about  half  the  length  of  the  bottle  is  a  piece  of  black  card- 
board. This  serves  as  a  black  art  screen  behind  which  your  glasses 
are  suspended  as  will  be  explained  in  due  time. 

Another  "gag"  for  the  stand  and  then  onto  the  glasses.  On  the 
crossbar  is  arranged  a  number  of  black  wires,  standing  upright,  and 
arranged  in  sets  of  two.  These  are  shaped  like  Y's.  They  are  ar- 
ranged in  separate  sets  of  two,  because  each  set  of  two  takes  one 
glass. 

The  glasses  are  simply  arranged.  Each  one  has  a  belt  of  black 
thread  around  its  "mid-section".  Attached  to  the  belt  is  another 
black  thread  running  upward  and  over  the  mouth  of  the  glass.  The 
glasses  are  of  the  small  whiskey  type.  They  are  half  filled  with 
varied  colored  liquids  or  liquor. 

In  performance  the  glasses  are  suspended  on  the  Y's,  by  the 
overhead  threads.  The  background  masks  them,  and  the  set  of  two 
Y's  holds  the  thread  wide  so  that  the  thumb  may  be  introduced 
without  difficulty. 

The  first  glass  produced  is  a  rubber  covered  one  which  you  carry 
on  your  person,  and  with  which  you  can  execute  change  over  palms, 
etc.  The  cover  is  removed,  and  as  the  right  hand  sets  it  on  the  T 
stand  the  right  thumb  enters  the  first  thread,  and  carries  the  sus- 
pended glass  away,  concealed  by  the  hand.  It  is  duly  produced  at  the 
fingertips,  a  drink  taken,  and  it's  placed  on  the  T  stand  when  the 
same  procedure  is  gone  through.  This  is  carried  on  until  all  glasses 
are  produced. 

It  you  see  fit  you  may  carry  a  few  of  the  glasses  sold  in  novelty 
stores,  which  contain  liquid  within  double  glass  walls  on  your  per- 


20  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

son.  These  can  be  produced  during-  the  routine  and  manipulated  just 
as  billiard  balls  are.  They  are  stood  on  the  rack  along-  with  the  other 
glasses.  For  the  finish  you  produce  your  spring1  flowers  from,  the 
cone.  Behind  the  chair  the  flowers  are  dropped  onto,  is  one  of  the 
candy  beer  mugs,  sold  at  all  Liggett  Drug  Stores  (or  Hepper's  Candy 
Store,  Luna  Park,  Coney  Island,  N.  Y.)  This  is  suspended  by  the 
handle  from  a  nail.  These  glasses  look  surprisingly  like  a  mug-  of 
beer,  yet  they  are  made  completely  of  candy. 

As  you  allow  the  cone  to  open  out,  under  cover  of  the  paper  you 
"swipe"  the  mug1  from  behind  the  chair  and  produce  it.  With  it  you 
make  your  triumphant  exit  saluting-  the  audience  with  the  glass. 

Try  this.  Give  it  as  much  practice  as  you  give  your  other  mani- 
pulative routines,  and  I'm  sure  you'll  have  something-  to  make  the 
natives  sit  up. 


Have  you  heard  the  Billiard  Ball  theme  song?     "You've 
got  me  in  the  Palm  of  your  Hand." 

QUEER  QUERIES 

Here's  a  real  novelty  with  cards. 

The  performer  explains  that  he  was  reading  of  a  ctourt  case  in 
Egypt  which  took  place  over  some  stolen  Camels.  He  asks  a  specta- 
tor t'o  write  down  various  statements,  which  were  uttered  during 
the  case. 

The  attorney  asked — (write).  "Are  Camels  ever  organized?" 

To  which  was  answered- — (write)  "Fortunately  Camels  love  unity 
between  sleeps." 

Suddenly  the  defendant  became  excited  and  shouted  —  (write) 
"Now  I've  never  even  felt  right  of  might  towards  ordinary  people." 

The  performer  explains  that  naturally  in  translation  the  words 
lose  a  great  deal. 

He  now  has  a  card  selected,  and  returned  to  the  deck.  The 
deck  is  shuffled. 

He  explains  that  the  card  has  a  great  deal  of  bearing-  on  the 
case  even  though  the  spectators  can't  see  it.  He  asks  the  man  with 
the  court  record  t'o  strike  out  all  the  letters  but  the  first  one  of  each 
word,  and  then  read  the  first  letters  to  him.  These  the  spectator,  or 
performer,  writes  on  a  piece  of  paper.  They  spell  as  you  can  see  for 
yourself. 

ACE  OF  CLUBS  NINE  FROM  TOP 

The  cards  are  counted,  and  the  ninth  card  is  the  selected  Ace  of 
Clubs.  Use  any  force  and  position  shuffle  you  like  to  bring  the  ef- 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  21 


feet  about,  that's  all  together  too  elementary  to  be  treated  here.  I 
suggest  you  ask  a  spectator  what  movie  star  he  would  like  in  the 
role  of  the  slighted  Oriental,  and  allow  him  to  spell  as  in  Hollywood's 
Heroes.  The  thirteenth  card  is  of  course  your  Ace  of  Clubs.  I 
hope  you  like  this.  It's  an  unusual  predicti'on  stunt  with  a  surprising 
finish. 


With  apologies  to  Fred  Culpitt 
RATHER  RIDICULOUS 

Here's  a  novel  close  up  stunt,  that  is  rather  funny,  and  a  bit 
unusual. 

The  performer  explains  that  he  has  a  new  girl  who  is  awfully 
modest.  Every  time  she  goes  to  the  beach  she's  so  modest  that  she 
refuses  to  be  seen  in  only  a  bathing  suit;  she  wears  a  long  cape  to 
cover  her  limbs.  The  performer  offers  to  show  the  crowd  a  picture 
of  her  in  her  beach  attire. 

He  reaches  into  his  pocket  and  takes  out  a  batch  of  small  snap- 
shots. From  this  batch  he  selects  one,  and  passes  it  around  for  inspec- 
tion. It  is  a  snap  of  a  girl  standing  on  a  beach  wearing  a  long 
cape. 

The  performer  gets  the  picture  back  and  returns  the  rest  of  the 
photos  to  his  pocket.  He  turns  the  picture  with  its  back  to  the 
spectators,  and  suggests  that  they  have  a  little  fun.  He  reaches 
behind  the  picture  and  produces  a  little  silk  cut  out  in  the  form  of  a 
cape.  He  smiles,  and  once  more  he  produces  a  little  piece  of  silk  this 
time  in  the  form  of  a  bathing  suit.  He  turns  the  photo  facing  the 
audience  once  more  with  the  remark,  "I  told  you  she  was  m'odest." 

And  the  photo  to  prove  its  modesty  has  changed.  For  now  we 
see  only  a  picture  of  the  ocean,  with  tonly  the  nude  thighs  of  our  girl 
friend  atfove  water  level.  She  .has  evidently  dived  in  to  cover  her 
nudity.  Once  more  the  photo  is  passed  for  inspection. 

The  method  is  simple.  On  top  of  the  batch  <of  photos  is  the  pic- 
ture of  the  ocean  with  the  limbs  sticking  out.  Onto  this  the  silk 
cape,  and  bathing  suit  have  been  fixed  with  conjuror's  wax.  They  are 
waxed  on  perfectly  flat.  In  the  batch  is  the  other  picture  of  the 
girl  in  the  cape.  The  "cape"  picture  is  passed  for  inspection.  On 
receiving  it  back,  it  is  top  changed  for  the  "thigh"  photo.  This  is 
immediately  turned  with  its  back  to  the  gang.  All  you  need  do  is 
produce  the  silk  pieces  and  then  exhibit  the  photo. 

There  is  more  effect  than  method  to  this,  but  it  has  an  awful 
audience  punch.  They  think  it's  awfully  clever.  You  can  take  the 
photos  with  your  'own  camera.  The  silk  pieces  should  of  course  be  in 
black  and  white  to  match  the  photo. 

Try  it,  you'll  like  it. 


22  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

A  symphony  in  color. 

SILKEN  SPELL 

Personally  I  regard  this  as  'one  of  the  feature  effects  in  this 
humble  volume.  Follow  the  description  cFosely  as  it  is  somewhat 
complex. 

A  paper  bag  is  examined  together  with  six  varied  colored  silks. 
They  are  obviously  unprepared.  A  spectator  is  invited  to  assist.  In 
order  to  prove  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  aid  you,  even  if  he 
should  wish  to,  you  hamper  the  only  two  senses  he  dould  possibly 
use.  You  blindfold  him  so  that  he  cannot  see,  and  put  gloves  on 
his  hands  so  that  feeling  is  out  of  the  question. 

Another  spectator  is  handed  a  scratch  pad  and  is  asked  to  write 
the  color  of  one  of  the  silks  on  a  slip  whichj  he  tears  off  the  pad  and 
pockets.  The  silk  are  nt»w  placed  into  the  paper  bag  one  by  one,  and 
are  mixed  up.  If  you  care  to,  you  may  have  the  spectators  suggest 
the  order  in  which  the  silks  are  to  enter  the  bag. 

The  selector  is  asked  what  color  silk  he  selected.  For  example — 
yellow.  The  performer  stands  in  front  'of  the  blindfolded  assistant 
who  reaches  into  the  bag  and  removes  one  silk  at  a  time.  As  he 
removes  each  silk  he  spells  one  letter  of  the  selected  color  y-e-1-l-o-w, 
and  sure  enough  as  the  last  letter  is  pronounced  there  in  his  hand 
is  the  selected  silk.  This  may  be  repeated,  if  you  care  to. 

Naturally  gloving  and  blindfolding  your  assistant  aids  you  just  as 
much,  as  it  appears  to  hinder  you.  Your  assistant  can  neither  see 
nor  feel  that  all  is  not  fair. 

You  use  six  ordinary  silks,  but  eachi  color  contained  in  the  group 
takes  six  letters  to  spell  it.  Your  best  choice  of  colors  are  Yellow, 
Orange,  Claret,  Coffee,  Purple,  and  Silver,  which  is  a  colorful  com- 
bination. 

In  order  to  get  knowledge  of  which  color  is  selected  you  use  a 
cheap  scratch  pad.  The  type  that  Woolworth's  sell  at  six  for  a  dime. 
The  paper  is  very  thin  and  the  act  of  writing  on  one  sheet  leaves  a 
tracing  on  the  one  beneath  which  is  legible  enough  for  the  per- 
former who  need  only  discern  between  six  different  colors. 

Once  you  have  the  knowledge  of  the  color  you  are  ready.  The 
bag  is  held  from  the  rear  by  the  left  hand,  its  mouth  wide  open.  As 
the  spectators  select  the  order  they  want  the  silks  placed  in  the 
bag,  the  performer  picks  them  up  with  the  right  hand  and  inserts 
them.  When  he  comes  to  the  selected  silk  under  cover  of  the  bag 
he  crumples  it  up  and  sticks  it  into  the  rear  of  the  bag,  where  the 
left  hand  holds  it  in  sort  'of  an  improvised  pocket.  Naturally,  since  the 
left  hand  holds  the  silk  through  the  paper  the  silk  is  well  out  of  the 
way.  Now  ytou  understand,  the  left  hand,  through  the  bag,  holds 
the  selected  silk  concealed  in  the  rear  wall  of  the  bag.  Because  of 
his  condition  your  assistant  can  neither  see  nor  feel  this. 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  23 


All  that  remains  is  for  him  to  start  spelling.  You  keep  the 
selected,  silk  in  its  improvised  pocket,  until  he  readies  the  last  letter, 
then  you  let  it  go,  when  it  will  open  out  in  the  bag-.  Naturally  since 
the  first  five  letters  have  removed  the  other  five  silks  from  the  bag 
the  selected  one  is  the  only  one  remaining  for  him  to  extract. 

During  the  actual  spelling  the  bag  is  held  by  the  right  and  left 
hands  at  iront  and  rear.  The  rear  is  towards  the  assistant's  stomach, 
and  it  hides  everything  from  all  angles. 

Perhaps  you'll  have  t'o  read  this  over,  but  I  think  you'll  use  it. 


Be  careful  what  you  tell  women  because  a 
TITTLE  TATTLE 

Let's  sit  and  talk  about  you.  I'm  sick  of  writing  stunts;  I'll 
bet  you're  sick  of  reading  'em,  Lor'  love  you. 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  directing  the  magical  sequences  of  a 
show  for  that  sterling  performer  Mtolly  Picon.  During  a  rehearsal 
one  day,  the  show's  producer  and  myself  began  talking  theatre.  As 
was  to  be  expected  the  talk  turned  to  magic. 

"Well,"  said  the  producer,  "to  be  truthful  with  you,  I  like  your 
w'trk.  It's  unusual,  inasmuch,  as  you  forget  mystery,  and  search  for 
entertainment  value,  which  after  all  is  the  keynote  of  all  theatre." 
(Flatterer.) 

"Not  exactly,"  I  answered,  "most  progressive  magicians  lean 
towards  entertainment." 

"To  be  frank,  the  trouble  with  magic  is  that  all  performers  use 
one  or  two  means  of  approach  and  development.  They  are  either 
mysterious  or  funny.  They  forget  all  theatrical  possibilities  and  stick 
entirely  to  tradition.  If  in  an  attempt  to  be  funny  they  would  emulate 
Laurel  and  Hardy,  or  if  an  attempt  is  made  for  mystery  they  would 
stage  like  Rouben  Mamoulian,  magic  would  be  a  lot  more  popular 
as  stagecraft." 

"True",  I  answered. 

'^When  you  see  a  magician  on  a  stage,"  he  recommenced,  "his 
procedure  is  just  the  same  as  a  school  boy  d'oing  his  first  trick. 
Granted  there  is  a  great  deal  more  artistry  shown,  but  his  staging  is 
exactly  the  same.  Here's  an  elephant,  here's  a  box — gone.  Of  course 
there  are  exceptions  to  this.  For  instance  several  of  your  better 
kn'own  performers." 

"Well  how  can  we  remedy  this?" 

"Simple.  Let  magricians  realize  that  tricks  aren't  all.  There 
are  other  things  of  greater  dramatic  value.  Teach  them  effect." 

And   then   the   conversation   drifted. 

"Some  day,"  said  our  great  producer,  "I'll  stage  a  spectacular 
ballet.  When  the  curtains  rise,  the  ballet  will  be  attired  as  butter- 
flies, with  the  ballerina  in  the  center  of  the  group  in  butterfly 


24  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

i 

costume.  Fr'orn  the  wing's  the  ballet  master  will  flutter  in  attired 
as  a  bee.  He'll  see  the  ballerina,  woo  her,  and  they'll  engage  in  a 
dance  of  love,  with  the  ballet  dancing  about  them.  After  this  love 
dance  the  bee  flutters  off  the  stage,  leaving  the  poor  butterfly  all 
alone.  The  curtains  fall  denoting  the  passage  of  twenty  years. 
During  this  time  the  butterfly  dies  but  not  until  she  gives  birth  to 
a  beautiiul  daughter.  When  the  curtain  reopens  we  see  the  stage 
set  as  beiore,  but  instead  of  the  original  butterfly,  her  daughter  is 
now  the  center  of  the  group.  From  the  wings  the  same  bee  now 
flutters  in,  and  not  realizing  that  this  butterfly  is  his  daughter  he 
woo's  her,  dances  the  love  dance,  and  then  leaves  her  even  as  he 
did  her  m'cther.  She  dances  the  dance  of  death,  and  finally  dies  of  a 
broken  heart.  Then  the  chorus  starts  to  sing  the  last  phrase  of  the 
tableaux.  They  sing 

"For  she  was  a  butterfly's  daughter 

And  he  was  a  son  of  a  bee." 

After    hearing    his    ballet    I    decided    his    advice    on    magic,    was 
equally  as  good.     Phooey. 


It  is  an 
UNUSUAL  UNIVERSE 

Here's  a  novelty.  The  performer  is  n'ct  introduced  as  a  magi- 
cian, but  as  an  explorer.  He  enters  attired  as  an  explorer,  and 
commences  speaking  of  the  queer  ways  of  other  races. 

He  patters  on  Hindu  wedding  customs,  and  uses  the  Afghan 
bands  to  demonstrate.  He  talks  on  the  Mohammedan  belief  in  an 
unending  cycle  'of  life,  and  demonstrates  with  the  cut  and  restored 
rope.  He  tells  of  a  Shinto  rice  ceremonial,  and  does  the  rice  bowls, 
and  the  knife  in  the  bottle  of  rice.  He  talks  of  Chinese  prayer 
papers  and  uses  the  torn  and  restored  and  burned  strip. 

He  tells  of  experiments  throughout  Eur'cpe  on  thought  reading 
and  works  a  mental,  stunt.  Then  to  finish  he  talks  of  a  magician 
who  accompanied  him  on  a  trip,  and  shows  some  of  his  tricks.  This 
gives  you  the  chance  to  introduce  anything. 

I'm  not  working  this  out.  I'm  giving  you  the  germ  of  an  idea. 
Those  <of  you  who  care  to  use  it,  will  probably  be  able  to  fit  it  to 
yourself  far  better  than  I. 

It's  an  unusual  approach  for  magic,  and  one  that  has  a  great 
deal  of  public  appeal.  Why  not  try  it,  it  costs  nothing,  and  might 
prove  to  be  quite  novel. 


Just  a  few  ideas  in 
VARIOUS  VAGARIES 

Here's  some  stuff,  maybe  it'll  prove  useful. 

Did  you  ever  think  of  the  possibilities  of  the  electric  refrigerator? 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z  25 


With  it  you  can  freeze  a  coin  or  a  small  silk  inside  an  ice  cake. 
Show  a  good  one,  substitute  for  the  loaded  one,  vanish  whatever 
article  you  like,  and  there  it  is  in  the  ice  cake. 

By  using  dyes  you  can  freeze  varied  colored  ice  calces.  You 
could  use  'em  for  some  sort  of  color  change  routine. 

Also  think  of  the  possibilities  of  wine  and  water  with  the  chemi- 
cals frozen  in  the  ice  cakes.  You  can  prove  glasses  empty,  put  in 
ice,  and  make  your  changes.  The  water  in  the  pitcher  should  be 
warm  in  order  to  melt  the  cakes.  If  you  use  a  drinkable  method 
you  might  be  able  to  freeze  stome  sort  of  syrup  in  the  cake  so 
that  the  stuff  won't  taste  so  toad.  In  this  way  you  can  pass  the 
phenolthalien  wine  around  for  tasting.  If  you  do,  you  should  be 
thoughtful  enough  to  supply  the  spectators  also  with  a  species  of 
soft  tissue  paper. 

If  you  want  to  carry  the  ice  cakes  to  a  date,  a  thermos  bottle 
will  do  the  trick.  ,When  you  arrive  at  the  date  ask  to  borrow  some 
ice  cakes,  and  in  preparing  for  the  show  substitute  your  own.  An 
easy  way  would  be  to  have  two  thermos  bottles  alike,  get  the  ice 
ahead  of  the  show  and  put  in  one  bottle  to  keep  it  O.K.,  then  bring 
out  the  duplicate  bottle. 


Don't  let  this  leak  out — 
WANDERING  WATER 

Here's  a  good  cl'csing  number  for  an  act  of  small  magic. 

The  performer  blows  up  a  balloon.  He  attaches  it  to  a  string 
which  keeps  it  hanging  in  mid  stage.  Under  it  he  places  a  wash 
basin.  Some  water  is  poured  into  a  canister,  and  it  vanishes,  the 
performer  touches  the  balloon  with  a  cigarette  he  is  smoking,  and 
tout  pops  the  missing  water. 

Two  balloons  alike  in  color.  Before  the  performance  one  has 
been  placed  over  a  faucet,  and  been  inflated  with  water.  This  is 
tied  at  the  neck  in  the  usual  way.  A  chair  stands  on  the  stage,  and 
a  basin  rests  against  the  back  of  the  chair.  The  rear  of  the  basin  is 
towards  the  audience.  Behind  the  basin,  resting  in  its  body,  is  the 
inflated  balloon. 

In  performing,  the  performer  blows  up  the  duplicate  balloon, 
and  apparently  ties  it  at  the  neck.  In  reality  the  neck  is  not  tied 
at  all.  The  air  is  kept  in  by  finger  pressure.  The  performer  reaches 
for  the  basin,  and  for  an  instant  conceals  the  balloon  behind  the 
basin.  In  this  instant  the  balloon  is  alltowed  to  deflate,  and  is  left 
behind  on  the  chair  seat,  where  it  will  remain  unnoticed  because  of 
its  size.  The  water  balloon  comes  off  with  the  basin,  and  a  perfectly 
natural  switch  has  been  made.  The  rest  needs  no  explanation. 

For  the  vanish  use  a  Foo  can,  or  any  natural  looking  contraption, 
that  will  vanish  water.  I  recommend  Thayer's  paper  cone  water 
vanish.  It  lists  for  a  buck. 


26  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

A  false  note  is  struck  in  the 
XYLOPHONE  XRAY 

Here's  a  honey  for  close  up  psychic  work.  The  effect  is  so  un- 
usual as  to  be  absolutely  dumbfounding-. 

The  spectators  are  seated  in  the  living  room,  or  bedroom,  (some 
of  my  best  tricks  are  done  in  bedrooms),  or  on  the  seat  'of  all  evil; 
wh'o  cares?  The  performer  pours  out  four  glasses  of  ginger  ale.  He 
explains  that  he  will  set  the  glasses  on  a  table  along-  with  the  bottle 
of  ginger  ale.  When  he  leaves  the  room  he  wants  one  of  the  spec- 
tators to  step  up,  select  one  giass,  drink  its  contents,  and  immedi- 
ately refill  the  glass.  The  performer  returns,  and  with  a  medicine 
uropper  takes  a  drop  or  two  from  each  giass  and  drops  it  on  a  piece  of 
heavy  brown  paper.  A  spectator  is  given  a  spoon  and  is  told  to 
strike  the  glasses  in  any  order  he  sees  fit.  The  performer  stands  at 
the  other  side  of  the  room,  with  the  paper  on  a  plate.  As  the  glasses 
are  struck  they  naturally  give  out  a  musical  note.  When  the  spectator 
strikes  the  selected  giass  the  paper  suddenly  bursts  into  flame.  There 
are  no  confederates. 

Do  you  remember  reading-  of  an  old  idea  in  which  you  put  a  grape 
seed  into  a  glass  of  ginger  ale,  and  command  it  to  rise  and  fall,  the 
air  bubbles  bring  it  up  and  down?  Well  his  is  it,  made  useful.  In 
the  bottom  of  each  glass  you  have  a  grape  seed.  The  bubbles  attaching 
themselves  to  it,  bring  it  up  and  down.  When  the  ginger  ale  goes 
into  the  glasses  it  starts  all  the  seeds  going.  The  glasses  are  set 
on  a  table  away  from  spectators.  Naturally  if  a  glass  of  ale  is 
drunk  the  seed  g'oes  with  it,  and  in  refilling  the  glass  the  seed  is 
absent.  The  seeds  are  so  small  as  not  to  be  discernible  unless  atten- 
tion is  called  to  them. 

When  you  return  you  take  a  glass  medicine  dropper,  and  take  a 
drop  from  each  glass,  at  the  same  time  looking  for  the  glass  sans 
seed.  You  are  n'ow  tipped  off.  In  taking  your  drop  try  to  get  the 
seed  out  of  each  glass  so  that  all  evidence  is  wiped  out.  For  the  flame. 
You  recall  that  the  drops  are  placed  on  a  piece  of  heavy  brown  paper, 
which  in  turn  is  rested  on  a  plate.  When  the  right  glass  is  struck  a 
piece  of  "Spitfire"  sold  in  all  novelty  stores  is  dropped  into  the  ginger 
ale  pool  which  immediately  ignites  the  paper. 

A  sweet  little  stunt,  and  easy  to  work. 


From  India  comes 
YOGI  YAMA 

Many  years  ago  when  I  first  became  a  devotee  of  mysticism  I 
put  some  study  in  on  the  ageless  subject  of  Yoga,  both  Hatha  and 
Raja.  As  you  know  most  of  the  miracles  of  the  East  are  accredited 
to  Yogi's  and  Swami's.  The  Jadoo  Wallah,  (no  relation  to  Charles),  is 


MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 


frowned   upon,   as  just   a  cheap  conjuror,   but   the   Yogis  are   believed 
in   implicitly. 

I  remember  a  feat  I  once  read  of.  It  was  written  by  an  English 
student  of  Yoga.  To  him  it  was  absolute  proof  of  the  Yogi's  power, 
to  me  the  possibilities  of  fraud  were  too  great  for  even  passing  con- 
sideration. 

The  feat  was  one  you  may  have  heard  of.  The  Yogi  took  a 
bundle  of  absorbent  cotton,  and  held  it  in  his  hands.  He  askes  the 
chela,  (student),  to  name  any  odour  he  thought  of.  Immediately  the 
whole  r<oom  'became  pervaded  with  the  suggested  odour.  Roses,  car- 
nations, lilacs  were  smelled  in  turn.  Finally  the  chela  suggested 
camel  dung,  and  this  too  was  produced.  The  experiment  was  sup- 
posedly a  convincing  proof  of  mind  control.  Perhaps  it  was,  who 
knows.  H'owever,  I  have  a  method  by  which  it  can  be  done,  and 
you  won't  have  to  give  up  eating  meat  or  practice  Prana  Ynma 
(breath  control). 

While  writing  this  book  Bob  El  Roy  who  is  quite  an  authority 
on  toccultism  as  wrell  as  magic,  was  in  conversation  with  me.  The 
discussion  finally  turned  to  the  effect  I've  just  outlined.  Bob  said 
that  like  the  Rope  trick,  it  was  a  fable.  I  disagreed  with  him  a.n-1 
promised  him  a  method  for  this  book. 

As  you  perhaps  know  there  are  only  five  'odours  or  so  that  will 
be  suggested.  These  are  rose,  carnation,  lilac,  musk,  and  violets. 
Should  any  odour  be  suggested  that  you  cannot  supply  you  tell  the 
spectators  that  you  are  not  familiar  enough  with  the  odour  to 
generate  enough  mental  force  to  produce  it. 

The  odours  you  intend  to  produce,  are  secreted  in  small  rubber 
balls  which  are  covered  with  cotton,  tfo  match  the  cotton  wad  that 
you  smuggle  them  in  and  out  of.  These  balls  are  filed  in  vari'ous 
pockets,  the  location  of  each  being  known. 

You  do  n'ot  use  perfume,  as  this  would  not  be  heavy  enough.  Go 
to  a  dealer  in  essential  oils,  and  get  the  essence,  (hello  Verrall  Wass), 
of  the  flower  itself. 

When  an  odour  is  suggested,  you  get  the  elected  bulb,  palm  it 
into  the  cotton  where  it  will  be  unseen,  and  squeeze  the  bundle.  The 
robm  will  fill  with  the  odour.  You  get  plenty  of  time  to  load  and 
unload  as  you  must  wait  for  the  odour  of  one  to  pass  away,  before 
you  logically  can  produce  the  next. 

In  the  case  we  mentioned  at  first  camel  dung  was  mentioned 
and  produced.  A  stink  bomb  broken  in  the  bundle  will  cover  any  of- 
fensive odour  suggested.  However,  this  will  conclude  the  experiment. 
I  have  been  hearing1  talk  of  a  new  novelty  known  as  perfume  bombs. 
These  are  similar  t'o  stink  bombs  only  they  give  out  various  perfume 
odours.  They  might  be  worth  experimenting  with. 

And  once  again  the  aggressive  West,   has  crept  upon  the  secretive 
and  mysterious  East,  and  stolen  one  of  its  possessions. 


28  MAGIC  FROM  A  2  Z 

I  present  this  as  a  novelty  for  occidental  magicians.  "Whether 
not   it   will  ever   be   used  remains  to  be   seen. 


And  now  for  our 
ZERO  ZEAL 

We've  arrived  at  the  zero  hour.  With  a  great  deal  of  zeal  we 
have  gone  through  Magic  From  A2  Z.  The  preparation  of  this  botok 
has  been  a  labor  of  love,  but  there  were  times  when  it  presented 
many  problems.  Creating  and  fitting  appropriate  titles  to  the  ef- 
fects has  been  a  tough  job. 

I'm  glad  it's  finished,  but  the  finishing  'of  this  volume  presents 
a  tougher  job.  I'm  going  to  work  on  another  volume.  It'll  lie  the 
most  unusual  thing  ever  attempted  in  magical  literature.  I  imagine 
it  will  take  at  least  a  year  to  complete,  but  when  it  is  completed  I 
think  it  will  be  "something  to  talk  about." 

Thanks  a  lot  for  reading  this.  I  hope  it  all  has  prViven  of  value, 
and  I  further  hope  that  it  has  brought  you  a  laugh  or  two. 


And  so  I'll  say — wait  a  minute — What's  that?  Oh!  yes  my  wife 
Fanny  feeling  that  she  has  the  right  to  the  last  word  insists  upon 
finishing  the  Wook.  Here's  Fanny. 

"I've  read  over  this  manuscript,  and  am  at  last  perfectly  sure 
that  I'll  collect  the  insurance." 

So  long,  good  bye,  God  be  with  you,  until  we  spend  a  couple  of 
more  hours  together  in  "Grand  Finale." 


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